One work week down, and it’s official. I have managed to avoid the computer every night after work until the girls go up to bed.
Category Archives: Treasures from the Archives
Cards and More Cards
In my ongoing effort to stay away from the evil empire of computers, we’ve been playing lots of card games. The recently learned French games, like “Trou d’Uc,” as well as more traditional American games, like gin rummy. Chloe wanted to learn poker, but that’s not my forte. Blackjack, on the other hand…
Chariots of Fire
See Sophie run. See Sophie run extremely fast. We took a walk around the block yesterday evening as part of my turning-over-a-new-leaf project to spend less time tethered to my computer after I get home from work.
The walk is probably about 3/4 – 1 mile long. And when I say that Sophie essentially ran the entire distance without stopping, I am not exaggerating in the way I am sometimes prone to do when describing my girls’ talents.
She ran and ran and ran. Hardly paused to take a breath. Outran her sister, who at one point collapsed on the ground from the effort of trying to keep up. Could it be that we have a track star in the making? I noticed that Sophie has quite good form when she runs. Not to mention stamina. She runs like Forrest Gump.
*****
By the way, it’s now been two days since my self-imposed mandatory post-work, pre-bedtime computer breaks. So far, so good.
A New Leaf
I looked at the front page of the NY Times today and saw an article that resonated a little too much with me. The headline: “Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price.”
Growing Up
It’s a very rare occasion that I get to see my two beautiful girls wearing dresses on the same day. The reason for that is simple. Chloe only wears dresses (and skirts, for that matter) under extreme duress.
However, she wore the dress in this photo quite willingly last night; she had, after all, been the one to find it at the store. And if you look at it closely enough, you’ll see that it’s a “French” dress, which was an extra plus in its favor.
Sophie’s dress, on the other hand, is notable for another reason. Anyone who knows Sophie knows that she LOVES to wear dresses. However, she’s generally extremely reluctant to wear anything that doesn’t have at least a hint of pink (the name of my blog strikes me as more “be careful what you wish for” with every passing day) on it. And yet, she wore this dress with pleasure last night. And the only nod to pink was the little pink purse she had in her hands.
I will end today’s entry with a quote from Sophie, who asked that I write, “I love Mommy because she’s my best mother ever!” To which I respond, “I love Sophie because she’s my best Sophie Bear ever!”
“Gavotte”
Chloe had her piano recital this evening. She had butterflies. Lots of butterflies. The recital took place in a church in 90 degree weather with no A/C and no fans (too loud). It was hot. And I was sweaty and everyone around me was sweaty and smelly. We were treated to about 25 performances, of varying complexity and quality. Chloe performed a piece called “Gavotte” and she did great. A year of lessons climaxing in 20 seconds of pounding on the keys.
Silly Bandz
I cannot believe that this is the latest kid craze. Really. Chloe just spent $12 of her hard-earned lemonade money (her perogative, I suppose) at the local toy store on two packs of rubber bands. Granted, rubber bands in shapes, including lava lamps and peace signs. But $6 a pack?
All I kept thinking was, “Shit. Why can’t I come up with a scam like that?” There’s something slightly Dickens-like (Fagin immediately comes to mind) about creating a product that costs nothing to produce and tantalizes innocent children into wasting serious dollars. Not to mention the parents and grandparents (yes, you, Mom) who are willing to open their wallets to buy such crap for their dear little ones.
Do I sound envious? Well, I am. A simple idea transformed into a gold mine. I’m smart, I’m educated, I’m fairly creative…but I don’t know if I’m willing to exploit kids in order to make a buck. Hmm. On second thought…
It’s Freakin’ June!
I have no idea where the year has gone. I just went to the dentist and made an appointment for my next 6-month checkup…on December 14! Jeesh.
I have lost all concept of time. School is out in a couple of weeks and yet it seems like just a few weeks ago that we were shoveling snow out of our driveway. I was photocopying camp forms today and still have to complete a few more. I’m quickly running out of time to turn them in.
For the first time in several years, Memorial Day weekend was hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, and humid like August. But I shall not be fooled. It may have been 90 degrees outside; however, the pool water was still only 60 degrees. And no – I shall not project myself two months into the future. I promise to live in the present. At least for the next hour or so.
Cuddling II
In my previous blog entry, I noted that Chloe was never a big cuddler. I still stand by that statement, but yesterday I witnessed a miracle. I don’t know if there was cuddling in the air the other night after I wrote my little story about hugging, but when Chloe returned home after a couple of nights at Grammy’s, she came into my room and proceeded to join me in bed where I was reading.
And before I could yell “Is this a joke?” Chloe was cuddling me. A genuine, full-blown cuddle. That lasted for a couple of minutes, which is a record for her. She hadn’t even read my last blog entry – so there was no calculated political move on her part to compete with her sister in an area where Sophie truly has no competition.
I was amazed. It was as if I had sent my Chloe irresistible cuddling vibes as I was writing about it the other night. Don’t get me wrong – I have absolutely no expectation that the moment will ever be replicated again. But it sure was nice while it lasted.
Cuddling
I love to cuddle with my baby Sophie. She is the best cuddle monkey. Chloe never liked to hug or cuddle when she was four years old. She had that stubborn independent streak going from the time she came out of my womb.
Sophie, on the other hand, is an altogether different story. I think she likes to cuddle with me as much as I like to cuddle with her. She’s even promised me, on several occasions no less, to give me hugs and kisses when she’s all grown up.
You can bet that I’m going to hold her to that promise. Consider yourself on notice, little one. I expect your cuddles to continue into adulthood and beyond. The cuddles are starting to get a little more challenging – I can barely carry her anymore. But she’ll happily join me on the couch or in bed for big hugs. And I just adore those hugs. I hope they never end.